Drawing on elk can be considered an "Art" how so? It requires skill, nerve & timing! All 3 can come into play on nearly every drawing situation whether you're solo or tag teaming! Your best odds stem from having the elks head hidden through your draw cycle, this can mean his head is in the grass or he could be raking a tree/brush, his head is behind tree/rock, maybe he's walking in & he's went by you in range & you're waiting for his eyes to go by you giving you a quartering away shot, you can now draw or give a soft grunt & draw simultaneously, this works great with both trad bows or compounds! The sound & draw movement will generally freeze him in his tracks allowing you the precious few seconds it will take to slip an arrow in him!
In other instances the elk comes in & stops at the 5yd to 30yd range facing you & locked on to the area he heard the calling & sees nothing, this means you had a great setup! Don't blow it now, stay calm cool & collected & wait for him to turn to leave, as soon as he turns his head & body, draw instantly & give him a voice grunt or do it with a mouth reed that's already in your mouth. This single note is deadly, it freezes them in their tracks as they turn back to see this elk they must not have seen at first! This is our # 1 sound & situation that arises so frequently.
If we would have forced the issue & felt all was going south & tried to draw while he was staring in our direction our odds are low he would have stayed for the draw aim & shoot! I too have found that if a bulls head is hidden as you draw & all of a sudden he looks up or moves his head that was once behind the tree to continue the smooth draw motion, you have zero chance of drawing with him staring you down & you're already half cocked. If you stop, 30 seconds to a minute go by, you will be shaking like a leaf from adrenaline & muscle exhaustion! (grin)
It's nice to also be able to draw on incoming elk, as you hear or see them do not draw to early, you could be holding way longer than expected & thus having to let down. It can ruin the whole encounter if this happens, let elk get closer or if you can tell they're rushing in fast then that too must be taken into consideration! The closer the elk the tougher to draw on them especially when solo, you look for that little crease by evaluating his movement & direction where your best odds are to draw!
We have used every one of these suggestions many times over the years! This has been done with in heavy cover, in front of cover, next to cover & with myself caught right out in the open, as open as a Walmart parking lot! We've taken several bulls in that situation, we do not move a muscle until the Timing is right to draw, aim, and fire!!! When caught in the open be patient, elk will look at you & try to figure out what you are but generally will tolerate you there as long as you do not move!!!! As soon as they let their guard down for that one instant it's time to ACT!!!
I've drawn on bulls where I've had them alone as well as have their cows 10yd-15yd from me for several minutes with the wind in my favor just waiting for the bull to turn or anything where I could draw without him seeing the motion. The cows would look up quickly as you do draw but don't run off as quickly as you may think, by then the arrow is gone!! I've even done this with both longbow & compound! Food for thought & best of luck to everyone this year!
ElkNut1
A Heads Up cow elk on the bow will let you do that too.
Its a good topic as you can't watch 2 vids in a row on youtube without seeing someone screw it up.
Fortunately, elk and some mule deer will let you get away with just a little.
Coues deer wont even let you blink.
Learning what you can get away with and what you can't is a big part of learning to hunt that particular animal.
I generally agree with what Paul says about not drawing on an elk that's standing still and got you pegged down. In my limited experience, more times than not, they're going to bust out before you can draw, aim, and fire. You can get away with more when they're raking a tree, nose down, or facing away.
If they're walking broadside and you draw, it takes a pretty wide tree to block your entire draw cycle and what they tend to do, from what I've seen, is catch the end of your draw cycle as they pass the tree, stop, and look which puts their vitals behind the tree. If you don't have a shooting lane, your only choice is the stare-down and they usually show you their butt on a trot after a minute.
My ideal situation is where I'm in a small ravine of some sort and the elk has to come over a rise to see me. If your release is attached, your bow in front of you, and your eye is already on your peep, with a small squat, you can draw as soon as you see the tops of their antlers and they walk right into you aiming.
If a bull is really getting into raking a tree, you can draw and walk right into a shooting lane. It's more important that you don't make any noise while he's raking than is your movement.
I agree that decoys can be a plus at times, not everytime but on occasion. To date I've not taken an elk with the use of a decoy, I suppose the main reason for that is my setups are in very tight quarters where I force elk into search mode from where my calls steered them to. I like the idea of a decoy & plan to implement one this year if the right situation arises.
Michael, I do not have a concrete position that I focus on when in an encounter. I allow the situation at hand unfolding dictate my best position. I've most likely taken an equal amount of elk in kneeling & standing position with standing being my favorite. Standing allows me to be mobile & I can pivot 360 deg if need be! To date I've not taken an elk while sitting.
When using a tag team style we rarely are even 40 yards apart, most our call ins are 20-30 yards apart & several within 15 yards. In most cases either the caller or shooter could take the elk coming in, rarely does an elk come in down wind on us, generally elk come straight to the calling the heard. Setup is key here.--- I suppose if we were hunting sage brush country our tag team calling would space out a bit further but we hunt fairly thick country so no need to be too far away from each other.
Scott, of course anything can happen when in an encounter, I don't feel there are any tricks you can pull out of your sleeve to have elk come in the way you need them to every time, that's elk hunting! I would be willing to bet that many of the elk you have coming in behind you was not the elk you were originally calling! There are those silent elk that are nearby that slip in to check out your calling. Sometimes this is the case & sometimes not! (grin) At any rate make sure you do not allow elk to see where your last sounds came from without them being in bowrange. This is a mistake made by hunters every year. Force them into search mode to come right at you.
"When they ain't looking!" (grin! I like that!(grin)
IdyllwildArcher , good post!
ElkNut1
Threads like this are for those who appreciate all the help they can get even if it helps them to avoid one simple mistake.
ElkNut1
For me it's usually September sometimes early August.:-)
Good thread and I feel this is one severely over looked part of being successful on an archery hunt.
Chuckster, I can relate to using cow sounds to stop moving elk, I too have had the same results as you, it's kinda 50/50 whether an elk will stop on a dime in the window we need them to stop in. They generally take a couple more steps or don't stop at all, at those times I don't think they heard the mews? I now use the Popping/Nervous grunt with my voice or mouth reed, it seems to do awesome! When I hit them with that hard grunt they freeze in their tracks, no more steps! I've stopped elk at yards away to 150 yards away with that harsh note. Give it a shot sometime & see what you think? Thanks for a great post!
ElkNut1
I time the draw to occur as soon as there is a tree or thick brush in between us. It has worked well so far...especially if there is a decoy behind me.
Best of Luck, Jeff
ElkNut1
As a "general rule" I'll try to get at least 20 or 30 yards ahead (and off to the downwind side) of it before I announce my presence...but every situation is different. Sometimes I can get away with calling, and then moving quickly ahead.
Sometimes, I do not make it very far...so it's "game on" lol.
All this is MUCH easier with a partner! And much more effective, convincing as well.
Best Wishes, Jeff
ElkNut1
